Merideth's Tale
by JujuTheKid
Summary: Merideth Leah Knowles is a normal 11 year old girl. Until she gets a letter that says she's a witch. Muggle born and inexperienced, she soon realises that life isn't as perfect and happy as she once thought. (Sorry. My summaries need some work. Reviews of all kind are appreciated... just dont be too harsh)
1. I'm a witch?

******So here is a little author's note for you. I'm new here so errors are going to be inevitable. Be patient with me. Anyway, enjoy my story about Merideth Knowles, a muggle born soon to be entering her first year at Hogwarts school of witch craft and wizardry.**

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Sometimes you get those important days that you never expect to be any different than the day before. That's how today was going to be. I felt it in my gut as sure as sunrise. I love Fridays. Which eleven year old didn't? I skipped out of my room, eagerly awaiting the pancakes I could smell my mother making. Friday was pancake day.

The kitchen was just big enough to fit in a small table and chairs for my parents and I. We weren't very wealthy. My mother was a nursery school teacher and my father was the owner of a small time mechanic shop.

"Mama!" I greeted her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She looked tired. She always looked tired. She didn't speak, she just gently pushed me towards my seat at the table and turned back to the pancakes on the stove. She just started to pile them on a plate when my father walked in, smiling as always. He was so different from my mother that I couldn't help but feel more attached to him than her. I do love my mother, but she was too quiet and too reserved. My father on the other hand, was always making jokes and laughing at the silly things in life that only he found amusing. He taught me to see a sad day as an opportunity to laugh more. My mother always scowled at us and told us we were loons but she would then smile warmly and touch my fathers hand gently with her finger tips.

My father sat across from me and grinned. "What did you dream of last night, Meri?" He asked me this each morning and each morning I'd make up a very adventurous dream. He would always declare me a liar and I'd demand that he prove me wrong. This was our ritual. There was no purpose to it. It was just our morning greeting and a way to keep each other smiling. This had become a daily thing for us about a month ago when I had read Alice In Wonderland. I had become quite obsessed with the world of dreams.

"I had a dream that I walked all around town on my hands because of all the sad people I see there. They wouldn't turn their frowns upside down when I asked them to, so I decided to do it myself." I looked at him smugly. This was a simple dream and it seemed possible that I would actually have had it.

"You're such a bad liar Meri. Just like your mother. You might have my humour and looks but you are not a liar like me," he said this so surely that I just had to argue.

"But-"

My mother interrupted my reply."I think it is a good thing that she is a bad liar, Charles. One liar in this household is good enough, if you ask me."

My dad laughed loudly. "Ha! But we didn't ask you, now did we my love?"

I giggled as my mother tapped him on the head with the oven gloves. This was a usual friday morning. Play fights and pancakes. We ate in a comfortable silence and soon my dad stood to leave, kissing both my mother and I on the top of our heads. I helped my mother clean up and pack away all the dishes. I ran up to my room to get dressed. I was just finishing the braid in my dark brown hair as I heard my mother screech in a frightened way. I saw my dark blue eyes in the mirror, widening in fear.

My mother was yelling violently at something to get out. Were we getting robbed? I dashed into the kitchen and stopped in shock, my mouth forming a perfect "o". There was a brown owl flapping about in the kitchen, hooting indignantly as my mother attempted to hit it with a broom. It saw me and I swear it's eyes held the appearance of recognition. It swooped towards me and I squeaked while covering my head with my hands. It dropped a piece of white paper at my feet and then hurriedly exited through the open door. It screamed at us at what I can only assume was the owl version of curses.

Once both my mother and I had stopped huffing and puffing I picked up the letter. For it was not just a random page as I had originally thought. The seal had a "H" imprinted on it's wax with little animals surrounding it. Yet that's not what caught my eye. On the front was a name. My name.

"Merideth Leah Knowles"

I didn't speak. I just ripped it open as my mother told me to give it to her. I read it quickly and looked up at my mother whose face was both worried and angry.

"It says I've been accepted to a school for witches and wizards. And that I am a witch. With magic. Mama what's going on?"

"You are indeed a witch," replied a calm and deep voice. Obviously this was not my mother and we both turned around quickly, screaming in matching shock.

By the door stood a strangely dressed man. Fabric seemed to be everywhere and I couldn't help but think that it must take a lot of effort to put it all on. His face was friendly enough, with a long beard and half moon glasses resting on his crooked nose. He had a pleasant smile, as if he were truly happy to see my mother and I.

"I am Professor Albus Dumbledore. I am the head master at Hogwarts. I am here to explain a few things to you."

He pulled out a stick from one of his many folds in his dress-robe-thing. _Wand._ That's what it was. He waved it and the letter flew from my grasp into his open hand.

"Are you ready to hear me now?" He directed the question towards my mother and I watched her slowly nod.

He sat in our small kitchen in the seat that belonged to my dad. Who was this Dumbledore man? Was I really a witch?

He looked in my eyes and smiled kindly. I smiled feebly back. "Let me tell you about the world that you belong in," he said.

What had today turned into?


	2. Promise me

**AN: Okay so here's chapter 2. I'm going to try make it a bit longer but I can't make any promises. I just thought that I should add that all recognisable characters and plot belong to the lovely J.K. Rowling.**

**I found that this chapter was a bit difficult to start and if it lands up seeming forced then I apologise but it's only because I had trouble trying to get my point through. (PS. I'd appreciate it if someone could explain to me how the rating works because I was clueless and just chose any letter. Thank you.)**

******Back to Merideth.**

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Professor Dumbledore had left soon after he explained to us what was happening and what was going to occur for my schooling arrangements. I think he sensed that we needed time to discuss it all. After I got over the shock of it and my lack of belief, I became very excited. I was a witch! And I was going to go to a school with others like me. My mother seemed a little less eager but she didn't try to dampen my mood. She just shooed me out of the house -not unkindly- and told me to go enjoy the day while she phoned my father and told him everything.

I walked down the street with a bounce that made it seem like my sneakers had a spring in their heels. I couldn't wait to tell Jessica. I imagined her strawberry blond hair wipping around as we jumped on her bed in happiness.

"Keep it a secret. Muggles can't know."

Dumbledore's voice rang in my head as if he were walking next to me and telling me it all over again. I couldn't tell Jessica. She was a muggle. A muggle, Dumbledore said, was a person who doesn't have magic like I do. My parents were muggles and it's not all too uncommon for a magic child to be born of non-magical beings. So even if Jessica was still the most trustworthy friend I had, I could not tell her. I would have to tell her something though. We were supposed to go to the same secondary school this year but now she would go to the school in our neighbourhood, and I would be on a train with other witches and wizards, going towards a school of witchcraft and wizardry.

I had stopped walking as my thoughts bounced about in my head. I was now outside the Wilsons' house. I decided that I'd tell her I was going to a boarding school in some foreign country because my parents wanted me to see a different part of the world. I knew that I wasn't a good liar but I guess I technically wouldn't be lying. It was the truth. Well, a half-truth. What's the difference? Hogwarts was a boarding school, and even though it was still in this country, it was a whole new world. I smiled at my own brilliance and knocked on the door.

"Hello Merideth, " greeted Jessica's mother, Mrs Wilsons.

I smiled at her and said hello just as Jessica ran out and grabbed me in a bear hug that would challenge any rugby players strength.

"Oh Meri! It's been a whole week! I feel as if I haven't seen you in years and years!"

I hugged her back and laughed. Jess was always like that. Gushing and so full of life. She was the most positive person I knew (she even topped my own father). We lived on the same street and for as long as I could remember we had been friends. She was the pretty one. Always in dresses and skirts. The typically beautiful blond hair and hazel eyes with a slightly tanned skin. She always smiled at people and accepted them almost right away. Everyone loved Jessica Wilsons. I loved Jessica too. She was my sister through bond instead of blood. I suddenly realised that I couldn't lie to her. Because that's what my half-truth would be: A lie. An ugly, demon faced lie.

"I have something important to tell you, Jess," I whispered.

"Secret?" She whispered back.

I nodded and she grabbed my hand and led me into the house, yelling at the top of her lungs that we were going to her room to play dress up. This, she had declared, would stop her brother from intruding on us when I told her my secret. We never had to worry about her mother or father. Mrs Wilsons was a house wife and was always occupied while Jessica's father was a lawyer and wasn't home often.

After slamming her door shut she turned around and faced me with a very is-it-serious-doctor? kind of look on her face. It was so ludicrous that I guffawed and she had to pinch me playfully several times before I could regain composure.

"Well? What is your secret?" She demanded. Jess _always_ had to know everything.

I froze for a second. What if she didn't believe me? Or what if she chased me out claiming I was a freak? I had to remind myself that this was my best friend. The girl who made mud pies with me and got me out of the trouble that I seemed to always get us into. She looked at me quizzically and I sighed happily. Jessica would keep my secret, but I had to make sure.

"You need to promise," I said suddenly.

"Promise what? We can do the switch if you want. Remember the last time we did that? When I told you that I stole that doll from the store. And you said you'd never tell but we still did the switch? I still have your bouncy ball. Do you have my spinning top?" The switch was like a pinky promise of sorts. We've only done it once and we seem to have a good track record because we've never had to give back our items. If a promise was broken, those objects would be with their first owners. I still had her spinning top. It was tucked away in my underwear draw, right at the back.

"I do," I said. " I need you to promise not to tell a living soul anything about what I'm about to tell you. I also want you to promise to believe me. Let's do the switch first. It will make me feel better. I'll give you my gold hoop earrings." I said the last sentence with a serious tone. Jessica's eyes widened. She knew how special the earrings were to me. My grandmother gave them to me before she died.

She ran to her dresser and pulled out a little chain from her jewellery box. She sat down on the floor in front of me and opened her palm. In her little hand was a necklace. It was silver with tiny links that looked so delicate. It had a single charm on it. It was a little moon with a blue centre that seemed to shift and swirl. It reminded me of one of those mood rings that hippies wore. A little star was attached to the corner of the moon that was shaped like the Cheshire Cat's smile.

"It doesn't have as much sentimental value as your earrings," she said softly, " but it's just as beautiful."

She looked at me in a determined light and vowed ," I, Jessica-Leigh Wilsons, promise to never speak of whatever it is Meri tells me not to and that I shall always believe her." We exchanged objects and I grinned at her.

"Okay... here I go. I am a witch, Jess."

"What?"

"I have magic and I'm going to a school for magic called Hogwarts."

"Get out! No way!" She stared at me incredulously.

"Let me explain," I said. I then told her the whole mornings events and she slowly started to believe me. When I was done, we sat in silence (which for us is quite shocking). Jessica looked at me and suddenly squealed in excitement. I couldn't help myself, I joyfully jumped around and screamed with her. She was happy for me, even though we would only see each other over the holidays, and that was all I could have asked for.

We eventually stopped our noise once Mrs Wilsons stormed in demanding to know what we were being so loud about. We spent the rest of the day whispering and giggling and making up all the sorts of things that I'd see at my new school.

When it was time to leave, Jessica made her point clear that she would see me everyday of the holidays since she wouldn't see me most of the year. I closed the front door to the sound of her bickering with her mother.

When I walked in my own front door my father was there. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder like I was a sack. "Off to the gallows with you!" He boomed ," a witch! A witch I dare say, is it true? " by his last statement he placed me on our old couch gently. He was smiling at me in his familiar way and I couldn't stop the tears that pricked my eyes. I would miss him while I was away. He seemed to understand my sorrow because he framed my face between his hands and kissed my forehead.

"You will write to me every week and tell me what you did."

I nodded and sniffed, still too emotional to make a sound.

"Even if the only thing you did was pick your nose."

"Ahg. Papa. You're disgusting. " I squirmed out of his grip and punched him in the stomach. He chuckled and gave me a tight hug. Obviously my response was what he expected. My father knew everything. I hoped I was like him one day. Loving and confident and appealing to those around him. I remembered the one time my mother told me that in his youth my father had been the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. It was the most romantic thing my mother has said to this day. She didn't show her emotions like my father and I did. She loved him though. That was the one thing I'd always been certain of; my parents loved each other through and through.

My mother entered the room with a smile. "Come eat," she said warmly.

Everything was so normal even though I was different now. We were still our little family. Jessica always said that she wished she was my real sister because her family was a broken one. She said that her parents only stayed together because it's convenient. Jessica didn't deserve a broken family and I told my parents this frequently. They always shook their heads at me and said not to judge others. I wrapped my hand around the necklace that was now resting against my chest.

My family was perfect, and I counted Jess as family.


	3. Mother says

**AN: **You know what sucks? Being sick sucks. At least it gives me time to write because I'm too lazy to get up and do something else. So here's the next chapter. I hope it's as good as I thought it was in my head. But if it lands up being awful then we can all just blame the prescribed drugs. Okay? Okay.

Back to Merideth! :)

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I exploded out of the front door and into our shabby garden. We needed to mow the lawn and pull out the weeds, but with all that's happened recently -my being witch being a main cause- we haven't found the time to worry about an ugly insidious plant crawling into our rose bushes.

"Merideth! Stop galloping everywhere!" My mother came bustling out of the house, looking flustered and tired as usual. "This Diadorn Alley isn't going to disappear if you walk like a proper young lady."

"Well technically, " I scoffed ,"_Diadorn _Alley has disappeared because it never existed in the first place_. _It's_ Diagon _Alley, mama. I cant help that I'm excited. " She looked at me with irritated eyes. I could feel a scolding coming my way. I straightened my shoulders in preparation and just as the first word left her mouth a loud pop sounded as a young woman appeared out of nowhere. (It was honestly not that loud to make us jump the way we did but it seems a lot louder when it's caused by a person magically appearing.)

My mother swore and looked around sheepishly. My mother always told me not to swear because she never did it. Perhaps my mother was a better liar than my father thought. She looked at this new woman with slight shock. My dear mother still wasn't use to the idea of magic being real.

I looked at this woman in wonder.

"You're a witch!" I exclaimed. I pointed at her crudely. I guess I could have been less rude but it's not everyday that I saw a witch that _wasn't _my reflection.

The witch smiled at me. "Yes I am young lady. I was sent by Dumbledore. I'm here to escort you to Diagon Alley and help you find your way to Gringotts Bank, where we will exchange your muggle money for the wizard world's currency. " The witch , towards the end of her speech, began talking to my mother instead of me. I was really interested, I promise, but I wanted to see it, not talk about it. You don't get an adrenaline rush from talking about bungee jumping. You get the rush from taking the leap. Arms spread and eyes closed, it's all in the experience.

My mother held out her hand in a very formal manner. "I'm Cilia Knowles. This is my daughter Merideth. It's very nice to meet you Miss..." The witch shook mine and my mothers hands and told us her name was Miss Pigsley. I had to put my fingers over my mouth so that I didn't laugh, because now that she said it, she did look a bit like a pig. If pigs had black corkscrew hair and light blue eyes. I suppose she was pretty in a sense. Her nose was slightly upturned at the tip. Her cheek bones were rather high and her eyes were big and round. Which is quite the opposite of her lips which were wide and thin. They were also chapped, as if she spent a lot of time licking them. She was tall and slender in her orange robes that reached just above her ankles. She must have sensed my wondering gaze because when I looked back up to her face, she winked at me and made a gesture with her hand for me to follow her. My mother grabbed my hand protectively and led me behind her as we followed this witch down the street towards the bus stop.

The bus ride had been awkward. People stared at us openly, and not all of the looks were friendly towards Pigsley. My mother and I received just as many hostile glares. Our association with the strange woman in ghastly orange clothing automatically made us some sort of offenders to the law. I hid my face in my mothers hip and she reassuringly patted my shoulder. I looked up into her face and watched as she proudly raised her chin. Cilia Knowles would not be embarrassed. She looked at the old woman across from us, for she had been staring the most intensively and occasionally made sounds of disgust. This hag of a woman, no matter how hard she tried, could not hold my mother's burning grey eyes. I felt immensely proud of my mother. I raised my head in a mirror image of my mother's and stared forward as if none of the stares had bothered me.

Pigsley explained to us that Diagon Alley was hidden from the non-magical civilization and that there were many ways to enter it. For today's purposes, Pigsleys had explained that we would be entering through the entrance in the clothing store. It was a second hand store and had the distinct smell of moth balls and cigarettes. My mother sneezed several times. "Bless you!" Chirped Miss Pigsley. She led us towards the back where the dressing rooms were. I didn't think these could actually be classified as rooms. I say it would be better for them to be referred to as "changing corner with curtains that may or may not fall down while you're naked as a baby" areas. Pigsley held aside the curtain and pushed us in with a smile.

"Come along, come along," she said.

"Where exactly are we going, Miss Pigsley?"

Miss Pigsley looked at me with her huge eyes blinking in all seriousness. "Through the mirror, of course."

I heard my mother sigh as if she was officially tired of our personal tour guide.

"Okay folks! Meri you will go first, I have to escourt your mother through because she is a muggle and the mirror won't let her through without me."

I gulped. I looked at the mirror in apprehension and took a step forward. There was nothing remarkable about this mirror. It didn't even have a frame. It was just stuck against the wall seeming... well, seeming completely unmagical. I pressed my palms against it and gasped as it dissolved my hands. There was no feeling. I could clench my hands into a fist and wiggle my fingers. I pushed my arms up to my elbows. I heard my mother start to protest. I couldn't hold myself back any more, I laughed and plunged into the mirror.

The Street I landed in was a side alley and I turned towards the busy sounds of the street to my left. My mother and Pigsley came out of the doorway that I hadn't noticed before. The mirror had disappeared and in its place was a green, old doorway, opening to what seemed to be an abandoned building.

I grinned at my mother and dashed towards the street. I smirked as I heard her grumpily tell me to wait for her.


	4. Gringotts Bank

**AN: This chapter has honestly been a pain in my ... rear *ahem*. It doesn't flow as well as I hoped. **

**I've fixed the past three chapters and as far as I know, there are no more mistakes. If you notice any, let me know.**

**I might not post much for the next few weeks because I write exams soon and I have to study (pretend to study). And trust me, that is occupying stuff.**

**So without further ado, here is Merideth.**

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My mother scolded me harshly in front of the people at Diagon Alley, and not for the last time that day I wished that my father had come instead of her.

"Why can't you just behave yourself and do as I say?" She asked. I looked at her blankly. The answer was obvious; I found what she said rather tedious, but that was not something she would enjoy hearing.

My father had wanted to come with us when I got my school things, but there was no one to look after the shop on this specific Saturday and this was the last time that we could come to collect the items on the list. A teacher and Mechanic could only find so much time off, apparently.

Two girls -around my own age- were sneering at me as my mother continued to rant. I felt the blush on my cheeks spread across my face. I was embarrassed. Why could my mother not just ground me instead of humiliating me in front of all these witches and wizards?

Even Miss Pigsley shared my embarrassment. She had taken a step away from us and seemed to be very intrigued by the creatures on the opposite side of a shop's window.

Said shop appeared to be a pet store. There were cats and rats, frogs and toads, and all other sorts of animals. What caught my eye though was not the cat with two tails (yes, they had one of those) but it was in fact the rather large ferret in the cage against the window pane. This particular ferret was looking right at me, as if he truly understood the scene going on outside and found that he quite enjoyed my suffering.

I looked at the sign that said "SMART FERRET NEEDS HOME!" and felt a rush of pity swell through my chest. This was not a wanted pet, it seemed. The ferret switched its gaze from me to my mother and then back again. It raised its front paw and-

"Merideth Leah Knowles! Look at me when I'm talking to you. What on earth are you gaping at?" My mother brutally gripped my arm and I pointed towards the rodent.

"Look at that ferret ma! It's waving at me!"

My mother looked at the animal - who had conveniently stopped waving- and the sent her angry eyes my direction.

I smiled bashfully. "Well it _was_ waving."

My mother shook her head at me, seeming to have lost her temper. She looked at Miss Pigsley, who was still pretending not to know us. "Sorry Miss Pigsley," she said to the witch, " would you please continue to lead the way?"

Miss Pigsley, acting as if the fight didn't happen, returned to her happy self and started guiding us down the street, pointing out important stores.

I craned my neck to get another look at the ferret. He - for I decided the creature was male because of it's large size- had his paws against his cage. He raised his head higher and winked at me. I grinned back at him and turned away. I think I want that ferret. I decided to ask my mother for him later. Hogwarts student, it said on the requirements list, were allowed to have a pet.

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****Gringotts bank was honestly the biggest building I had ever seen. Yet what really made the place spectacular was not the architecture, it was the goblins. Goblins kept the bank up and running for goblins knew how to handle expensive and precious things.

They were short with large noses of all shapes. Their ears were big and their arms slightly longer than their stunted legs. They hobbled everywhere with malicious eyes roaming the visitors up and down. Not very trusting fellows, these goblins.

We walked up to a counter with a goblin that looked particularly grumpy. His hair was an array of gray shades that seemed to float on top of his head and his nose was so long that it curled over his mouth. I tried to smile at him and this didn't seem to amuse him much as he just looked at me with the same bored expression.

"What do you want?" He grumbled slowly in his monotonous voice. I instantly felt better when he addressed Miss Pigsley in that tone. It made me realize that he hadn't found me personally boring, it was just that he found us all a rather mundane group of people.

Miss Pigsley slapped a large amount of money (muggle money) on the counter table. "We want an exchange," declared she.

The goblin slowly took the money and disappeared from my view. We stood there for a good five minutes before he returned with two small brown sacks in hand. I wondered where all the money was stored and if one day I might get to use one of those lifts I had seen earlier.

Pigsley said that one day I'd have my very own Gringotts safe with all the money I manage to make. The thought of joining the wizarding world was an awesome one. It made me grin and giggle randomly with excitement.

My mother tucked the wizard money into her bag and walked swiftly out of the bank. She did not seem to like goblins very much.

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**AN: I know it seems like I am dragging it out but I'm struggling with a slight writers block. And only on the fourth chapter! Oh dear lord, how will I go on?!**

**The next chapter will be the end of her Diagon Alley experience and then we will soon watch her go off to Hogwarts! **

**Woo!**

**Lotsa love (ew cringe, did I just say that?)**

**JujuTheKid**


	5. Knuts, Sickles and Galleons

Diagon Alley was busy with people by the time we left Gringotts Bank. Witches and wizards in all coloured robes and cloaks were striding from store to store.

"Sixteen Sickles!" exclaimed a grey haired witch in light blue robes.

"If you have a problem, shop elsewhere," replied the salesman.

The money of the magical world was easy enough to understand. There are twenty-nine knuts to a sickle and seventeen sickles to a galleon. The knuts were the smallest brown coins, the sickles were a slim silver, and the galleons were a large gold.

Pigsley had explained this all to me as we walked passed the stores.

"I believe you can find your own way from here," she said with a friendly wave of the hand.

She left us at our first store. _ Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. _The list said I would need 3 plain black robes as well as a black winter cloak that had silver fastenings.

"Welcome!" greeted the cheery Madam Malkin. "Hogwarts? Come along then dear."

The plump witch led us to the back of the room and gestured towards the footstool. I stepped on to it and let her measure my size. My mother walked about feeling the fabrics that seemed to cover the store.

The door at the entrance opened with a ding. There was another customer. Madam Malkin bustled to the front of the store. I heard her direct the new comer to the back of the store.

A girl carefully stepped onto the footstool beside my own. Her eyes were a greenish hazel and her hair was a curly light brown that fell to her shoulders. She was slightly shorter than me but had a lot more meat on her frame than I did. I had always been skinny.

"Hello," I said," are you going to Hogwarts too?"

She gave me a startled look and bobbed her head quickly up and down, causing her curls to bounce. What a shy girl, I thought.

"I'm Merideth Knowles. I'm muggle born so I don't know much about the magic world... well, I actually know nothing!"

She smiled kindly. "It's my first year too. I come from a half and half family. My father is from an old magical family. I'm Rachel Riverton. My family is directly descendant from Ravenclaw." Rachel swelled with pride as she spoke of her lineage. She seemed a different girl when she got her confidence up.

"Who's Ravenclaw?" I asked.

Her eyes widened. "Ravenclaw is one of the four founders of Hogwarts! There are four houses for each founder, you know. Blue Ravenclaw for the wise, red Gryffindor for the brave, orange Hufflepuff for the loyal, and green Slytherin for the cunning."

I tried my best to remember all the new information. Which house would I be put in? I wasn't wise, brave, loyal or cunning!

"What house will you be sorted into? Ravenclaw?"

"Most likely. My brother is a second year and he is in Ravenclaw and they hardly ever separate family members. My family is always in Ravenclaw. How about you, though? Which house would you like to be in?"

I stood there in silence as I pondered the possibilities of each house. I hadn't come up with an answer yet when Madam Malkin told me I was finished.

"All done, dear." She patted my arm as she ushered my mother and I out.

"See you on the first of September, Rachel!" I called over my shoulder as we left the store.

"Bye!" She called back.

Our next stop was to Florish and Botts book store. The amount of books were amazing and I could have sat on the floor for the rest of the day just reading the titles. My mother, on a new note of hysteria, panicked about our lack of time and so rushed through the book store like a cat after a mouse.

"We're running late," she grumped as we left the store, weighed down now by textbooks.

"I can get my wand by myself while you get the other stuff mama, I don't mind."

She gave me a stern look.

"Please, mama!"

"Fine! You go there and then if you finish and I'm not there already you _will_ wait for me."

"Deal!"

She stalked away after giving me some money for the wand. I grinned as I ran towards the wand store.

_Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC. _

I confidently pushed the door open.

"Come girl," said an old man with silver eyes, "are you going to stand there all day? Or have you come to get a wand?"

I stepped into the dusty, old store.

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**AN: Okay, I know, she still hasn't left Diagon Alley but I swear the next chapter will be it. I just cant cut down anything. **

**Soon she'll be in Hogwarts, I swear it.**

**It's five days until my exams start. Good luck to me! :D**

**Keep reading! ;)**


	6. The Last Muggle Moments

**AN: So I haven't posted a new chapter in a while. Sorry about that! I just finished my exams (not including my art practical on the 22nd) and I had little to no free time. I only realised today, during my Afrikaans exam, that perhaps going through the poems would have been a good idea. Oh well!**

**Anyway: Enjoy chapter 6, folks.**

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"The person doesn't choose the wand, it's the wand who chooses the person."

I glared in concentration. I did not like Mr. Ollivander very much. I found him rather queer. He pulled me around his store and towards a completely random row of small boxes that I assumed could only hold wands.

"Not very tall are you? No... That won't do - ah! Here we go! Try this one!"

He handed me a long rectangular box. I opened the lid and looked at the wand inside resting on the red material. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind. What if I wasn't magic at all? I couldn't remember a moment where I had made anything do something strange. I looked at the silver haired man doubtfully.

Mr. Ollivander took the wand out of the box and held it out to me. "Go on," he said brightly.

I gently gripped the wand. I couldn't deny that the wand felt good in my hand. Had I really found my wand on the first try? I flicked my wrist cautiously and stared in wonder.

Two little finches appeared out of thin air and fluttered above our heads. I laughed out loud in complete joy as Mr. Ollivander clapped his hands once as if in smug appreciation of his own genius.

"Ten and a half inches," said Mr. Ollivander. "Willow and unicorn hair. Very nice for tricky charm work."

I had no reply. I simply laughed some more and smiled foolishly as the birds of my creation landed on a near shelf, tweeting all the while.

"Thank you so much!" I was so ecstatic that my voice rose an octave in my emotional state. No matter how bizarre I had previously found the old man, at that moment all I wanted to do was hug him.

As if he knew my inner thoughts he began to shake his head. "None of that, Merideth Knowles, just pay for your wand and be gone. You had better take good care of that wand, girl, that unicorn wasn't very pleased with his hair being pulled out," said Mr. Ollivander sternly.

I grinned at him as I gave him his money. I was still smiling as I dashed out the store.

* * *

Leaving Diagon Alley had been a lot easier than entering it had been. We used the same old door that we came in and found ourselves back in the dusty second hand store.

The bus ride home had been infuriating, though without Miss Pigsley there were no glares. All I wanted to do was take out my wand and look at it.

When we reached our bus stop I ran all the way home. I noticed my father's car in the drive way and I entered the sitting room breathlessly, holding my wand out for him to see.

We spent that evening going through my set books and labeling my clothes. It was a week until I had to be at the train station.

I lay in bed that night thinking of all the events of the day. It was as I was falling asleep that I remembered that I had wanted a pet...

* * *

The day before my departure i decided to spend with Jessica. She came over just as both my parents were leaving the house. We braided each other's hair in silence. There was a painful lump in my throat and my eyes were stinging with the tears I was holding back.

Jess' fingers deftly finished the braid in my hair. "It will be so long before we see each other again," she said sadly.

"The time will go by quickly, you'll see."

Jess looked at me with pleading eyes. "What if I don't make any friends?"

"You'll obviously make friends, Jess," I said irritably. "You're not the one going to school far away. You won't be alone because you'll have all of our normal friends with you. I will have no friends and I will be the one completely alone. Not you."

We stared at each other in silence, both lost in our own thoughts. Jess seemed offended and I knew the frown on my face was an obvious sign of my anger.

Suddenly Jess dropped her head and sobbed.

"Oh Jess, I'm so sorry." My previous annoyance disappeared and was replaced with a raging guilt deep in my stomach. I had no reason to have lost my temper with her and I felt so immensely horrible.

From a compulsion unknown to me I reached out and touched her hand. She had drawn a butterfly on her palm with a blue both gasped as the drawing fluttered its wings. Before our eyes the butterfly gained more realistic qualities as it peeled itself off of Jessica's skin. Before we knew it, the butterfly had flown out of my bedroom window and Jess and I were smiling, all arguments forgotten.

Jess had left long after dinner and while I was washing the dishes my mother came and stood beside me.

"Don't forget who you were before all of this," she said grimly. "That is who you really are; not some witch."

The next morning my mother's words still rang in my head loud and clear.

My father would be the only one taking me to the train station today.

"It's just you and I today, Little Witch," said my father, cheerful as ever.

My mother had said that she was feeling too ill to come out but I had a feeling that she just didn't want to be around anymore magic.

We met Pigsley at the station and she immediately became flustered by my father's presence. A handsome man, my father.

"This is your father, Merideth?" she asked. "Why, you two look so alike!"

My father grinned and cracked a joke about good looks being a family tradition. Miss Pigsley giggled loudly as her cheeks flushed a bright pink. I wrinkled my nose in disgust at her obvious attraction. My father saw my reaction and winked at me as he pushed my trolley towards platform nine and ten.

Where exactly was platform nine and three quarters?

* * *

**AN: Well that's that! End of another chapter! Hopefully it wont be so boring from here.**

**I was wondering what house you think Merideth would fit in to. I was going to be very unoriginal and put her in Gryffindor because it would be easier to describe their common room than having to create one for the other houses. **

**I'm open to any suggestions though so you can just let me know either in a review or as a PM.**

**Read it Right - J. **


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